Your website is your 24/7 salesperson. It is important to make sure it is in tip-top share to provide prospective clients with the information they need quickly. Make the investment in your website so that is is working for you. A modern and responsive website is essential to keep customers and Google happy. Ongoing monthly maintenance is crucial for your site to ensure security and performance. However, every few months it is essential to do a “deep clean” and what better time than spring? We have created a Spring Cleaning checklist to help you prepare for a busy spring and summer season.
Updating and Tidying up
Your website should be updated frequently when new updates are released for plugins, themes, and WordPress. Review your site for any updates that may not be automatic or covered by your webmaster plan.
- Update the copyright date in your footer to the current year
- Review your website for additional time references that may question the validity of your site
- Check your “news” and “blog” sections to make sure they aren’t out-dated and old news
- If you have an events page, check to make sure old events are removed
- Evaluate your navigation. Keep it simple. Can a visitor easily find what they are looking for?
- Confirm that your pages display correctly on mobile
- About Us page:
- Check key stats are up-to-date
- Review staff to ensure old staff are removed and new staff are added
- Review and update bios if necessary. If an employee is now a long-time team member, adjust their bios to increase trust.
- Old headshots? Replace them with new, professional images.
- Contact Us page:
- Review to ensure all contact information is still accurate.
Test if all moving parts are still moving?
- Test out contact forms to ensure they are still working as expected.
- Test out all buttons and call-to-actions
- Newsletter signup process. (If you don’t have one, add a newsletter subscription to your website)
- Test social media share buttons and social links (If you don’t have one, add a newsletter subscription to your site)
- Test for broken links, mainly if you use external links in your blogs. External pages may be removed, and without checking for the broken links, you may never know.
- Check that comments are working as expected — close comments on older posts to avoid spam or add a reCAPTCHA.
- Review your SSL Certificate to ensure your website is secure and resolves as HTTPS.
- Test your website on multiple browsers and devices.
Clean and freshen up your content
- Check your Google Analytics to determine which pages are most visited. Prioritize these pages and review the content for spelling, grammar, and accuracy.
- Review pages for internal links. Link high traffic pages to lower traffic pages that are related to make crawling easier.
- Review old blogs and update as necessary. Remove irrelevant blogs that cannot be updated and create 404 redirects.
- Create or update your content calendar to establish what content needs to be created and how you will share it.
- Swap in some new photos and videos.
- Review and update any testimonials on your site, so they are new and fresh
- Consider repurposing existing content.
- Start and commit to a blog focuses on local content (if you haven’t already)
- Shine up your CTAs (call-to-action) and make sure your main CTA is clear, straightforward and visible. (Avoid using cutesy terms that may get confuse your visitor)
- Avoid embarrassment by update the pricing and policies on your website and checking that descriptions are current
- Review your website for consistency
Review Google My Business, Social Media and other directories
- Some say Google My Business is more important than your website when it comes to local online presence. Review your Google My Business listing for accuracy and completeness. If you need help, contact Pet Sitter SEO.
- Check other business directories that you are listed on to make sure they all have current information.
- Review all social media accounts and audit users.
Odds and Ends
- Renew your domain name or check that it is set to auto-renew, so it doesn’t expire
- Review your payment processor to ensure you are getting the best rates. Our partner guarantees to beat your current rates or they will give you $500. See how much they can save you and Request a Quote.
- Check that your domain name is registered to your business and not your webmaster
- Change your passwords is a good practice to keep your website and online accounts secure.
- Review your hosting package. If you use a cheap hosting, we recommend upgrading to a high-performance server as we use for all of our client websites.
- Review your Google Analytics and Google Search Console for any potential issues on your website.
- Upgrade your email to G Suite and user branded emails with Google’s platform.
- Grow your email list by creating eBooks covering local topics where visitors enter their email address to download. Ex: Top Pet-Friendly Places in Your City
- Audit your email list. Remove users who never open or engage to keep your list fresh.
- Do some networking: Pet Business Marketing Support Group, All About Websites For Pet Business Owners, Pet Professionals Networking Group
- Conduct a competitor analysis to see how you compare and what you need to improve on.
If your website is looking old, tired and neglected, a spring clean may not be enough. If your website needs a complete refresh, check out our website design packages. A complete overhaul is necessary if your site is dated, not mobile friendly, using a theme that is no longer supported or hasn’t been updated in over a year. Did we miss any to-dos? Have any suggestions? Let us know is the comments below!
Erika Godwin is the President of Barketing Solutions and the Co-Founder and CMO of ProPet Software, an industry-leading kennel management software. Erika has over 8 years of experience with WordPress and graduated from Elmira College in 2009 with a BS, Business Administration- Marketing and Management.
